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Archie comics CEO a wild card in town's mayoral race

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The co-CEO of Archie comics is running for mayor of Rye, even as her stormy tenure atop the wholesome brand of Veronica and Jughead got stormier earlier this summer, when she accused a

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The co-CEO of Archie comics is running for mayor of Rye, even as her stormy tenure atop the wholesome brand of Veronica and Jughead got stormier earlier this summer, when she accused a business associate of sexual harassment.

Nancy Silberkleit appointed her friend Sam Levitin to be a co-trustee of her husband's estate last year. But their relationship broke down within months, and Silberkleit, 59, petitioned Westchester Surrogate's Court in June to have Levitin's co-trusteeship revoked, saying that he had pursued a sexual relationship with her for months, to no avail.

It's the latest legal wrangling for Silberkleit, who fought for years with her co-CEO after her husband, Michael, died in 2008 and left her half the comic book company co-founded by his father, Louis, in 1941.

The company still publishes new issues describing the escapades of the hapless Archie Andrews, his two crushes, Veronica and Betty, and his best friend, Jughead.

Silberkleit and her co-CEO came to a settlement last summer, but the litigation heated up again in June with the new allegations involving Levitin.

Those have been put off until Sept. 18. It's around that date, Levitin told the court, that he expects to return from a three-month motorcycle trip to Alaska with his girlfriend.

None of the legal drama stopped Silberkleit from declaring her run for mayor in mid-August, to the minor bafflement of her opponents, both councilmen with longstanding records in the city's government.

"I think that shows she has a lot of gumption," one opponent, Joseph A. Sack, 44, said.

Peter Jovanovich, 64, the current deputy mayor and the race's third candidate, said that he knew next to nothing about Silberkleit.

"I do not recall ever meeting her," Jovanovich, a former publishing executive, said.

Her political inexperience aside, Silberkleit was undaunted in a recent interview, including taking on the town's often-contentious politics, with ongoing arguments over union contracts, land use and infrastructure spending, issues that often lead to marathon council meetings.

"I felt that the type of personality that I had would be a good change to the town, and I also thought I wanted to put a good spin on politics," Silberkleit said. "I want our community not to feel like they've been left out."

She said that her ongoing issues with Levitin would not be a distraction in the campaign, though she declined to go into detail about the allegations, saying that "it's in the hands of lawyers."

"I think the facts will bring out the truth in all of this," Silberkleit said. "It's just the path of life. Sometimes you're ahead, and sometimes you're behind."

Part of what Silberkleit was referring to was a nasty legal battle that ended last year, when Silberkleit reached a settlement that granted her control over scholastic and live theatrical endeavors at the company, while also allowing her to return to the company's Mamaroneck headquarters, where she had been barred during a heated point in the litigation.

But new, sexually charged litigation began anew earlier this summer, when Silberkleit accused Levitin of coming on to her around August 2012.

"You are sleepy in the wrong bed," he allegedly told her, according to court papers.

The allegations were not the first in the estate case to be sexually tinged; a co-CEO of Archie Comics accused Silberkleit previously of making crude references in the office.

Silberkleit told The Journal News that the allegations — widely reported — had hurt, but she also insisted that it would not deter her from continuing with her campaign.

"I am who I am," she said.

Neither Levitin nor his lawyer, Jerold Dorfman, could be reached for comment.